It’s time for Carl Crawford to stop whining about Boston

It’s been nearly two years since the Red Sox shipped Carl Crawford off to Los Angeles, and for some reason, he’s still complaining.

Before I even start here, let me ask you something: Red Sox fans, when was the last time you thought about Carl Crawford in a Red Sox uniform? Probably about two years ago, when we shipped him away, right?

Well, apparently for Crawford, his time in Boston was a bit more “traumatizing” than most people realized, or at least that’s what he thinks.

Crawford recently told WEEI’s Rob Bradford that his time in Boston was “a scar that won’t go away.” No seriously… I’m not kidding. Here’s what he said:

"“That place is going to be the same forever, and I don’t want no part of it,” Crawford told WEEI.com. “I’m happy where I’m at right now.”“I try and put that as far behind me as I can,” he added. “I would like to feel like that, but it still feels fresh at times. Just because it was one of the toughest times of my life. That’s a scar that I think will never go away. I’ll always remember that feeling.”"

There are so many different things that can be said here.

May 5, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Carl Crawford (3) looks up over the dugout as the rain comes down during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

First of all: Really? A “Scar that will never go away”? The guy had a terrible two years on the diamond, he didn’t get shipped off to a bloody war… the whole “scar” thing seems a bit overdone to me.

Secondly, why is this coming up now? No one in Boston is thinking about Carl Crawford… why should we be? Maybe I’m wrong here, but to me, this seems like a guy who’s struggling to play ball at the level he should be playing at, and feels the need to make pointless comments like these to stay relevant. Like I said, when’s the last time you thought about Carl Crawford? Exactly.

The fact that he has to call out Boston so randomly is both immature, and a bit pathetic. To me, he sounds like a young kid who doesn’t feel important, and is trying to draw attention to himself by using some lame excuse in an effort to draw sympathy. It’s pathetic.

I’ll admit it… When I heard the Sox got Carl Crawford a few years back, I was thrilled. The guy had been hitting above .300 for five of the last six seasons in a Tampa Bay uniform, showed exceptional speed on the base-paths, and was an effective tool in the outfield. Unfortunately, Crawford’s success from Florida didn’t travel north with him, and so we traded him away. That was it for me,  guy couldn’t produce… no hard feelings.

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So when almost two years down the road, Carl Crawford is still complaining about Boston, it makes you take a step back and look at the entirety of the situation.

Crawford came to Boston for some one of the darkest hours in the recent history of the Red Sox. Everybody remembers how those seasons went down, and for Red Sox fans, it’s something they want to forget. The quality of play was low, and the quality of locker-room chemistry was lower.

But that time is over. The Red Sox made the necessary changes and rode a “Boston Strong” motto to a World Championship last season, thriving not only off of stellar play, but almost unprecedented chemistry in the locker room.

So when Carl Crawford, who only played in Boston during it’s darkest time, and hasn’t stepped into a Red Sox clubhouse since then, has the nerves to call out Boston as a terrible place to play, and claims that “nothing has really changed”, it just makes him look idiotic.

Crawford, who has been playing on the other side of the country for the previous two years, apparently thinks he knows a lot about the Red Sox clubhouse. It’s also pretty apparent that he is flat out wrong.

Look at Dustin Pedroia. Look at David Ortiz, or Jon Lester. Here are three guys that have thrived in Boston, one of whom was recently traded and may very well be back in a few months, solely because he loves Boston. For Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, the spirit of Boston is what drives them. They take that “all-baseball” atmosphere and harness it to power them… and I think it’s extremely safe to say that Pedroia and Ortiz both love Boston, and would love to play the rest of their career there.

Need a little more convincing? Look at ex-Red Sox Mike Lowell. Lowell, who took a hometown discount to remain in Boston in 2007, recently spoke of the baseball atmosphere in Boston, and about how he not only wanted it and cherished it, but needed it.

"“For me, it was no doubt I loved playing in a real energized baseball atmosphere every day,” Lowell told Bradford. “I loved (that) the city was into the team every single day. All of the stuff that people say in Boston that some guys didn’t like, the non-stop talking baseball, that’s what I crave. Maybe it is similar somewhere else, but I hadn’t seen it.“Don’t get me wrong, my family was comfortable. My family loved being in Boston. But that baseball atmosphere, it was so overwhelming positive for me. I knew a good contract was coming either way, but I wanted to be in the situation where I enjoyed playing baseball the most, and it was there.”"

What makes Crawford’s complaints even more lame is his excuse for signing with the Red Sox. Crawford admits that he just jumped on the biggest contract he could get in 2011, and now feels the need to use that as an excuse (try not to feel too bad).

"“I definitely wouldn’t have went to the highest bidder,” he said. “If I could have done it over again I would have gone into more detail into everything. I didn’t do any research about nothing. I didn’t know much about Boston, only when I played there. If I went into a little more depth as to what I was getting myself into things probably would have been a little different.”"

What was he getting himself into? A big baseball city, that’s it.

The fact of the matter is that Carl Crawford can’t handle playing in a city where baseball is more than a game. At Fenway Park, you have to play well to be liked. You have to produce. Carl Crawford had problems because he couldn’t produce, and the fans weren’t too thrilled with him because of it.

In Boston, we really care about our Red Sox. We live, breathe, and love that dirty water. We expect the best from our players because we need the best from our players. Carl Crawford didn’t give us his best, so he didn’t get our best.

End of story. Now stop whining about it.